In pictures: Designers and architects reveal the future of space travel

Mars Colonisation by ZA Architects

German firm ZA Architects proposed sending an advance party of solar-powered robots to Mars to dig underground dwellings for curious space travellers seeking shelter. "Curiosity sooner or later will bring human to Mars and wouldn't it be nice to have permanent station to explore it?" said Arina Ageeva of ZA Architects.

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Mars Colonisation by ZA Architects

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Moon structures by Foster + Partners

Other space-based architecture proposals include this 3D-printed lunar base by Foster + Partners. The London-based architecture firm worked with the European Space Agency to investigate ways of constructing homes on the moon, settling on the method of 3D printing with lunar soil itself.

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Moon structures by Foster + Partners

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NASA's 3D printing factory in space

3D printing and robots could also be used in the search for extra-terrestrial life, according to NASA. The orbital factory NASA is developing with technology firm Tethers Unlimited Inc (TUI) will use 3D printing and robots to fabricate giant structures such as antennas and solar arrays of up to a kilometre in length.

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NASA's 3D printing factory in space

"This radically different approach to building space systems will enable us to create antennas and arrays that are tens-to-hundreds of times larger than are possible now,"explained TUI CEO and chief scientist Dr Rob Hoyt. "This will provide higher power, higher bandwidth, higher resolution, and higher sensitivity for a wide range of space missions."

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Growing a city in space

There have been numerous plans to 3D print structures in space, but could we grow a city organically in zero gravity? Senior University of Greenwich lecturer Rachel Armstrong is currently investigating just this, with plans to grow cities from soils as part of a project called Persephone.

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Prepping the human body for long-distance space travel

If we're going to journey across our solar system and beyond, we'll need to prepare the human body for long-distance space travel. Artist Lucy McRae exhibited a speculative vacuum chamber with this in mind at our Dezeen and MINI Frontiers exhibition last September. "I'm keen on exploring how the body could start changing in order to withstand long periods of time and space," McRae explained. "That's what this project is looking at - it's prepping the body to go to space."

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Exploring Venus with inflatable

In December last year NASA unveiled a research project to send astronauts to Venus, envisioning Zeppelin-like pods designed to be "lighter-than-air". "A recent internal NASA study of a High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) led to the development of an evolutionary program for the exploration of Venus, with focus on the mission architecture and vehicle concept for a 30 day crewed mission into Venus's atmosphere," said a statement from NASA's Space Mission Analysis Branch (SMAB). Each air ship could house two astronauts for up to a month in the upper atmosphere of the planet Venus – which NASA says would take less time to explore than Mars.

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Journey to Space capsule for space tourists

British studio Priestmangoode designed this capsule that will float passengers up to the edge of space, offering views of the Earth's curvature. Developed for the World View programme set up by US space development corporation Paragon, the lightweight pressurised vessel is capable of carrying six passengers and achieves its high altitude as a result of a large helium balloon.

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Spaceport America by Foster + Partners

Foster + Partners completed the world’s first space terminal for tourists in 2011. Located in New Mexico, the building hosts experimental Virgin Galactic space craft designed to carry passengers to the outer limits of Earth's atmosphere.

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Spaceport America by Foster + Partners

Full-height glazing wraps around one end of the low-rise structure, which can be entered via a deep channel cut into the landscape. The building contains a mission control centre, astronaut preparation facilities as well as a friends and family area.

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SpaceShipTwo by Virgin Galactic

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic organisation has been racing to develop the first air craft to make space tourism a reality. But space travel will never be without its dangers. Despite earlier successful test flights, Virgin's SpaceShipTwo tragically crashed in November 2014, killing seasoned co-pilot Mike Alsbury.

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NASA's travel posters for newly discovered planets

As interest in space tourism continues to grow, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory created posters for a fictional space travel agency called the Exoplanet Travel Bureau advertising holidays on recently discovered planets that could potentially support life.

Architects, designers and big business are increasingly turning their attention to space. With projects exploring habitable 3D-printed structures on the moon, the colonisation of Mars and vehicles designed to take us to the outer-edges of Earth’s atmosphere, they are transforming science fiction dreams into tangible realities.